'Not mandatory to ask captain'

'Not mandatory to ask captain'

Mushy called in for hearing

Sports Reporter

It's not very often that a captain and a chief selector spend a large amount of time the day before a match discussing issues that do not deal with the make-up of the playing eleven. However, Mushfiqur Rahim's open criticism of the changes that chief selector Faruque Ahmed -- who arrived from India yesterday -- brought to the Asia Cup squad, meant that a one-to-one discussion to 'cool down' the scenario was a must.
Mushfiqur was also called in yesterday for a hearing from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to explain his outburst.
At the end of the meet it seemed as though both parties were satisfied, as Faruque later put it, “There's no need to stretch this issue, it has come to an end now.”
While the two may have made up, Mushfiqur's public outburst has revealed two important aspects. The first is that life for Mushfiqur and the team management will not be as easy as it was during the previous selection regime. Based on recent events, Faruque seems the kind of character who will look to enforce anything that he finds logical, regardless of the barriers that lie ahead.
The move to drop both Mahmudullah Riyad and Shafiul Islam may not have gone down well with Mushfiqur, but it was a rather bold and one with merit, especially in Riyad's case.
When asked why he had not discussed the issue with Mushfiqur, Faruque decided to stick to the manual.
“According to our job description it is not mandatory for us to consult the captain. Likewise the captain does not need our help to make the playing eleven. If he wants to he can but it's not mandatory.
“And it's not as though we did not consult them at all. Our cut-off time to submit the team was on Saturday and we talked to the coach and Vibhav Singh (physio). The coach represents the team management as well,” said Faruque.
The chief selector however also hinted that he would support making discussions between the captain and the selection committee mandatory when selecting both the final eleven and the squad. A healthy debate, according to Faruque, can only help the team progress.
It has also been learnt that the outburst has led to the board deciding to start a process that would make the players follow the code of conduct more coherently, or in other words restrict comments made to the media to prevent matters from 'going out of control'.
Whatever steps are taken, in light of recent events it will be in the best interests of both parties -- players and selectors -- if the lines of communications are more open and if they take each other into confidence before making decisions.